Oops: O'Farrell 'off the record' tweet

By Paul Tatnell

July 15, 2010 — 10.19am

A "deeply off the record" tweet from NSW Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell was posted on Twitter today in an embarrassing gaffe in which he appeared to call redheaded Prime Minister Julia Gillard a "ranga".

The Liberal Party has yet to select its candidates for the federal seats of Greenway and Parramatta despite the imminent announcement of an election.

Barry O'Farrell ... a bit of a tweetCredit:Peter Rae

The mistake came after Mr O'Farrell appeared to publicly answer a private question on the delays from Fairfax radio reporter and keen tweeter Latika Bourke.

Mr O'Farrell wrote: "deeply off the record - I think the timetable & struggle to get candidates reflects internal poll - pre & post the ranga".

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The tweet - which Mr O'Farrell has since deleted - was captured by one of his followers and is now doing the rounds of the social networking site.

It is possible Mr O'Farrell intended to send Ms Bourke a direct message, which would have remained private, but he accidentally sent the tweet public.

A spokesman for Mr O'Farrell, Sam Fairlie-Cuninghame, has not returned calls this morning. Mr O'Farrell has also been asked for comment via Twitter.

The Opposition Leader, whose Twitter name is @barryofarrell, is a keen tweeter having posted more than 3000 times and has more than 3400 followers.

Premier Kristina Keneally, who is in China, took a gentle swipe at Mr O'Farrell this afternoon according to Chanel Nine reporter Kevin Wilde, who tweeted her as saying: "I am certain that Mr O'Farrell is very embarrassed ... I am certain that Mr O'Farrell did not mean to cause offence to the PM."

AAP reports: NSW Nationals leader Andrew Stoner described the gaffe by Mr O'Farrell, a heavy user of Twitter, as a "one-on-one tweet that went in the wrong direction".

"We all learn from our mistakes, and the message from this one is be careful what button you press and who you send your tweets or Facebook messages to," Mr Stoner told reporters in Sydney.

"Barry, trying to have a private conversation with a particular journalist, pressed the wrong button. Let's get over it, let's get back to the issues facing this state."

Mr Stoner denied that using the term "ranga" was offensive.

"I think Barry is reflecting the lexicon of the time," he said.

He also played down Mr O'Farrell's appraisal of the federal preselection process.

"Barry was trying to comment on an election that will no doubt be called early by an unelected Prime Minister who is seeking to take advantage of the early honeymoon period," he said.

"No doubt it will be difficult for the Liberal Party to respond quickly."

Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott denied his party was having trouble finding candidates in western Sydney.

"We have good candidates, and we will confirm our line-up in the next couple of days," he told ABC Radio.